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Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 71–65 NIT Victory over Stanford

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6 years ago

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Oklahoma State used a monstrous fourth quarter (still hilarious to write) to take down No. 3-seed Stanford in Round 2 of the NIT on Monday in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Jeffrey Carroll led the way in what could be (?) his last game ever in GIA with 26 points on 8 of 15 shooting. He buried 5 of 7 threes and tossed in 7 boards and 3 assists. Kendall Smith chipped in 19 points, as well, and Mitchell Solomon had a nice 10-point, 6-rebound evening.

For the Cardinal, stud Reid Travis was held to 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Michael Humphrey had 15 points and 20 (!!) rebounds, but the Cardinal turned the rock over 19 times (to just six for the Pokes) and OSU took advantage with 23 points scored off turnovers.

Five thoughts on a surprisingly exciting game in GIA.

1. A tale of … four quarters?

It seems too simplistic to reduce Oklahoma State’s offensive success to whether they’re hitting from deep, but look at the difference in quarters 1 and 4 vs. 2 and 3.

• 3-point shooting in Q1/Q4: 57 percent | 48 points
• 3-point shooting in Q2/Q3: 13 percent | 23 points

It was astonishing to see the difference in OSU between the quarter splits. They shot 24 percent from the field in the middle of the game (Q2/Q3) and 48 percent in the bookends (Q1/Q4). There’s a pretty strong correlation between offensive success and quality 3-point shooting. This is often the case in college hoops (and with OSU), but it was especially so on Monday evening.

Here is a premium example of what I’m talking about. It’s a chicken or egg argument, obviously, but when OSU is cranking from the perimeter it really seems to open up everything else (as you would expect).

2. Extra shots = extra games

This was a tenet of the Brad Underwood era, but OSU took eight more shots than Stanford (70-62). Even though they shot worse (36 percent to 39 percent), they had more opportunities to score and made more 3-pointers. And they did all this despite giving up more rebounds (55!) than they’ve given up in any game all year. How? Disruptive defense and a Stanford backcourt that was about as adept at handling the ball as I would imagine the three Kyles editing this blog would be.

3. Caring about the outcome

This is completely anecdotal and possibly not even close true, but it really does look like Oklahoma State cares about winning the NIT title. I think when the ball is tipped (shout out to Luther Vandross) everybody competes, but there’s a difference between waiting until that moment to give a crap and putting in the prep work.

OSU looks like a team that has put in the work in hopes that they might make it back to New York for Round 2 this season. That’s a testament to Mike Boynton and Co. for getting them to feel that way because it’s certainly not universal (I’ve heard the Ford era NIT stories!)

Related: The GIA crowd gave a crap tonight! Real emotions during Round 2 of the NIT! I don’t know what I expected, but a NIT game on a Monday evening at 6 p.m. with gorgeous weather outside doesn’t exactly scream “this place is going to rock.” But it kind of did, and despite John Thompson III lauding Stanford’s poise more than I’ve ever lauded anything in my entire life, including my wife during all three of the times she has given birth, it clearly affected them.

4. How good was Clip?

Nights like these are equal parts exhilirating and infuriating. Exhilirating because Carroll took over both early and late against a halfway decent team and made 13 of the 22 shots he took (including) free throws. He cut and moved and couldn’t miss from deep and had a block and seven boards, and then you’re left wondering where that was so many times in the regular season and if it had shown up more often whether OSU could be prepping for Duke instead of USC.

5. Figuring out the zone

No matter how you feel about zone defenses, and I know some of you have made your feelings well known, it would be dumb of a team to not play one against OSU.

After starting in man on Monday, Stanford went to a 2-3 that wasn’t particularly effective. OSU figured it out in the second half, started sending Crime Dog or King Solomon to the free throw line, and this started happening.

This goes back to point No. 1, though. If you’re not hitting 3-pointers, this kind of offense doesn’t look nearly as smart. Given OSU’s struggles from deep of late, I was with Carson in not being particularly confident that OSU could solve the puzzle. They did, though, and 41 percent from deep on Monday was enough to seal the deal.

Related: When you start banging down long 3s, these are the other kind of looks you have. Also related: Good job, good effort Stanford player protecting the rim. Yelling Guy could have affected the play more than that dude did.

More notes on Monday’s game.

• It’s weird how playing quarters changes your perception of the game. For instance, I think scoring 20 point in a quarter is pretty amazing now, whereas before I wouldn’t have thought much about scoring 20 points in the first 10 minutes of a half.

• Lol

• I love Cam McGriff doing the Kevin Garnett thing where he swats away shots after a whistle so opponents won’t see them go in the bucket. Full approval.

• Reid Travis looks like and is built like he should be a wrestler.

• Stanford’s end-of-half 10-1 run could have been a turning point, and it probably should have been given the fact that OSU went on a 2-for-20 run at the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third. But Stanford never led by more than 3 points during that span.

• Who knew Mike Boynton would match this record in Year 1?!

• I thought Oklahoma State’s numbers on their gray uniforms were difficult to see, but they read like a Dr. Seuss book compared to Stanford’s numbers. I could even be convinced that they didn’t even have numbers after watching them play for 40 minutes.

• Stanford had 30 (!) rebounds in the first half.

• I like the experimental rules. Come at me. I also like the under-the-bucket cam.

• That technical foul on McGriff had to be the softest technical in the history of organized basketball. Jimmy Naismith did a full barrel roll in his grave. Also, there were some personal fouls that made the technical look like an assault.

• I want a 6’8 point guard in Stillwater like Stanford has. One that can dribble, preferably.

• “How many points could the PFB team score on air in GIA?” was a thing I thought during the end of the first half of this game.

• Yasssss

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